Use-after-free in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-98490

CSH
CYBERSECURITY HELP
Sign In REGISTER
 
Main Vulnerability Database Vulnerabilities #VU156790

Use-after-free in Linux kernel - CVE-2026-98490

Published: October 22, 2026


Vulnerability identifier: #VU156790
CSH Severity: Low
CVSS v4: 6.8 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: CVE-2026-98490
CWE-ID: CWE-416
Exploitation vector: Local access
Exploit availability: No public exploit available

Vulnerability details

The vulnerability allows a local user to cause a denial of service and potentially corrupt kernel memory.

The vulnerability exists due to a use-after-free in the Linux kernel Open vSwitch connection tracking component when connection tracking extensions are reallocated after helper processing for an unconfirmed connection. A local user can trigger the affected helper and extension-allocation sequence to leave a stale pointer in the expectations list, causing access to freed memory during expectation removal and potentially crashing the kernel.


Affected software

Linux kernel
Ubuntu
linux (Ubuntu package)
linux-aws (Ubuntu package)
linux-gcp (Ubuntu package)
linux-oracle (Ubuntu package)
linux-ibm (Ubuntu package)
linux-hwe-7.0 (Ubuntu package)
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package)

How to mitigate CVE-2026-98490

Install security update from vendor's repository.

Linux kernel - update to 7.0 rc3
linux (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-42.42
linux-aws (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1016.17
linux-gcp (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1016.18
linux-oracle (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1015.16
linux-ibm (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.17
linux-hwe-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-42.42~24.04.1
linux-oem-7.0 (Ubuntu package) - update to 7.0.0-1017.17

External References

Related Security Bulletins